Teammates mentoring chapter honored; seeks dozens more volunteers for Sioux Falls schools
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Summary
Teammates Mentoring of Sioux Falls, launched in 2020, was named South Dakota chapter of the year and reported growth to more than 200 mentees across district schools; program leaders and board members urged community volunteer recruitment to fill a backlog of applications.
Teammates Mentoring of Sioux Falls was recognized as the South Dakota chapter of the year and leaders told the Sioux Falls School District 49-5 Board of Education the program needs more volunteers to meet demand.
Brianna Vennenkamp, executive director and program coordinator of Teammates Mentoring of Sioux Falls, told the board the chapter launched in 2020 through a partnership with the Sioux Falls School District and the Great Life Cares Foundation and formally began serving students in 2021. “At Teammates, our mission is to positively impact the world by inspiring students to reach their full potential through mentoring,” Vennenkamp said.
Vennenkamp said the national Teammates program, founded in 1991 by Tom and Nancy Osborne, has served more than 50,000 students in six states. The Sioux Falls chapter has grown from two elementary schools to serving more than 200 students across all four high schools, all seven middle schools (including NACCO), and 16 of the district's 25 elementary schools.
The program emphasizes long-term matches and trains mentors on boundaries and expectations. Vennenkamp said mentees who have been matched with a mentor for at least three years are eligible to apply for scholarships; she noted that last year Teammates programs across the network awarded $6.7 million in scholarships to graduating seniors and that Augustana University recently added scholarship support for graduating mentees.
Board members, parents and longtime mentors urged community recruitment. Board Member Mark, who said he has mentored for several years, described one-on-one recruitment—current mentors inviting acquaintances—as the most effective technique and offered to bring potential volunteers to coffee. Vennenkamp said the chapter currently has about 60 submitted applications waiting and that districtwide the need may be on the order of several hundred students who could benefit from mentoring.
The presenters and board members encouraged people to contact Lutheran Social Services (LSS) or call the helpline at 211 for information about mentor opportunities; LSS is piloting a mentor recruitment and engagement specialist focused on three elementary schools (Annie Sullivan, Cleveland and Terry Redlin Elementary).